Chelyabinsk Scientists Patent Unique Database of Ancient Human Diet

Scientists from South Ural State University (SUSU) in Chelyabinsk have developed and patented a unique database designed for studying the diet of ancient people from the Bronze Age.

The database includes about 500 measurements of stable nitrogen and carbon isotopes in the bones of humans and animals found in the South Ural region and the adjacent part of Kazakhstan. Studying these isotopes allows researchers to reconstruct the diet of ancient people by determining the proportions of meat, grains, dairy products, and other components in their nutrition based on indirect chemical traces.

“Food does not last for millennia, but its traces remain in bones, and from them, one can form an idea of the diet,” explains Professor Andrey Epimakhov, Deputy Director of the Institute of Mathematics, Mechanics, and Systems Analysis at SUSU. “This is a kind of 'forensic examination' of ancient diets, which turns guesses into arguments and allows for comparisons of the nutrition of people from different eras and regions.”

The significance of the database lies in the volume and uniqueness of the collected materials — a large-scale collection of this kind is absent in other regions of Russia. All information is available to specialists in an open format without ready-made conclusions, which stimulates independent research and the development of archaeology as a discipline based on facts.

One of the important outcomes of the work was the discovery of age-related changes in the diet of Bronze Age children: according to the analysis, breastfeeding ceased around the age of three, and children transitioned to regular adult food. This information was obtained from changes in the isotopic composition of children's bones, which was previously impossible to establish with such precision.

Scientists hope that the new database will become a useful tool not only for historians and archaeologists but also for specialists in the field of nutrition and orthomolecular medicine, as well as help expand the understanding of the evolution of diet and the impact of food on human health across different eras.